HV 5070 
.L6 
Copy 1 



rR^Mamssr 



library, 



of the Interior, 



^%?SS55S^^iS 



©HE 






mm 





THE 



THREE INEBRIATES. 



A POEM. 



BY 

S. V. LEECH, D.D., y 

President of the New York State Temperance Society. 



NEW YORK: 
PHILLIPS & nUN7. 

1886. 






By Tracer 

JUN i iwr 



CONSENSUS OF THE POEM. 



Cakto I. 
The Muse witnesses a drunkard's career — In a 
dream she sees Satan commissioning Intemperance as 
his chief agent for the ruin of souls — She hears an 
angel warning men against his wiles. 



Canto II. 
A lady of wealth adopts an orphan babe — The death 
scene of the child's mother. 



Canto III. 

The drunkenness of the child's foster-father — His 
wife's death — His vows of reformation — Again an 
inebriate. 



Canto IV. 
The adopted child a student at college — The student 
at home eloquently pleading with his inebriate foster- 
father to reform — The sad address of response — The 
foster-father's suicide. 



4 

Canto V. 
Ralph, the adopted son of the suicide, elected to the 
Senate — He first drinks at a banquet in his honor — 
The senator in a famous gambling house. 



Canto VI. 
A "stag party" at the senator's residence — A 
widely known libertine at the banquet — His song — 
The weird dream of the senator. 



Canto YH. 
The restaurant — The debauched son of the senator 
— The senator's death — The widow's story — The son's 
ruin — The mother's prayer. 



Canto YIH. 

The dying son's lamentation — The death scene — 
Prayer for prohibition. 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 



Canto I. 

IN memory's glass I see his shrouded form. 
His death-sealed eye once danced in boy- 
ish joy, 
And on his cheek the rose of beauty 

bloomed. 
I saw him when with manly dignity 
He vowed to love and cherish one, whose 

heart 
A sacred gift to him in trust was given. 
But soon upon the brilliant scene there fell 
A shadow that in blackness grew until 
Its darkness hid life's sunny scenery. 
He quaffed the cup — the bow that spanned 

life's sky 
With gaudy hues, dissolved in deep'ning 
clouds. 

I saw his burial : his coffined form 
They laid within a drunkard's dreary grave. 
His children bending o'er him vainly called 
A father's name ; but the dull ear of Death 
Responded not to tones of love. His wife 



6 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

In solitude of soul, his grave bedewed 
With bitter tears, and crushed in heart re- 
traced 
Her weary, homeward steps. 

'T was midnight, and 
The watchman's footfall on his lonely beat 
With measured tread alone disturbed the 

hush 
Of Nature's deep repose. In dreamland 

realms 
I roamed in search of Truth's immortal fruit, 
And, like to him who on the sea-girt isle 
Received command the final scenes of Time 
To paint for man ; so on my ear there fell 
The mandate of a shining one : " The things 
Unveiled before thine unsealed eye, the 

same 
To men unfold." 

I stood in Hell's dark vaults 
And saw the arch-satanic spirit stand 
Upon a towering crag, enwrapped with fire. 
Around him in dread council sat the chiefs 
Of his demoniac hosts. In tones that shook 
The mighty peaks about him piled, and 

rocked 
The sea of flame that 'neath him surged, 

then spoke 
The Demon King : 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 7 

" Princes of Woe ! 
Long have ye pined to struggle with the God 
Who hurled you from yon blazing battle- 
ments, 
And ages of pent wrath have well sufficed 
To train your souls for combat with the One 
Whose marshaled ranks resist my reign and 

rule. 
In yon fair world that brightly burns upon 
God's arch, a queen star set in night's fair 

crown, 
I struggle now with Him whose cross is 

reared 
In far perspective — to redeem the prize 
I snatched in Eden from the Christos' hand. 
The soul of man in God's bright image found 
And wrecked by my great garden victory, 
I struggle to retain in hate of Him 
Whose justice forged the chains that bind 

us here. 

" Murder ! thy mission know: 
Thy drapery shall crimson be ; in blood 
Thy vestments dyed. Where carnage reigns 

display 
Thy fearful power. In life's red current 

bathe 
Thy glittering sword, and revel where the 

slain 



8 THE THBEE INEBBIATES. 

In silence sleep. Go in assassin form 
Where slumber deep is on the weary one 
With riches blest. While in Morphean 

arms 
He dreams of bliss and talks with angel 

bands 
Near hovering, approach his senseless form 
And deep within his heart the dagger 

plunge, 
And send unwarned his soul before its 

Judge. 
A ' code of honor, 5 falsely called, create, 
And teach that foul revenge is noble born; 
Forgiveness, coward's creed. Inflame the 

mind 
Until the turf shall drink most precious 

blood, 
And pall in grief a Nation's lustrous sky. 

" 'Tis thine, Disease, to shatter man's 
Corporeal frame. The soul's great citadel 
Must conquered be by storming Nature's 

works 
Around it thrown. Thy fever-heated hand 
Lay on the aching brow that it may burn 
In agony. Plant on the fair young cheek 
Consumption's rose, to bloom for death like 

the 
Pale bud unfolding on the virgin snow. 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 9 

With icy touch lay cold the beautiful, 
And with delirium drive man's intellect 
In frightful ruin from its lofty throne. 
Extorted groans and falling tears shall mark 
Thy triumphs. Raise victorious thy song 
Above the dead ! " 
Then turned the Demon King and faced a 

form 
Whose cunning glare the fiends with terror 

shook 
That round him sat. Chief 'mong the 

throng he seemed 
Whose bitter vials on the hearts of men 
Should yet be poured. A gilded cup he 

held 
With pleasure decked, and brimmed with 

happiness. 
Within the chalice fair empurpled flashed 
Like molten rubies kissed by noontide sun 
A crimson stimulus. " Nectar " was graved 
Upon its burnished front ; but hid beneath 
Its sparkling surface lurked poison most 

dread, 
And coiled within a latent adder lay 
Whose bite was mortal and whose stins; was 

death. 
Before the chief this death-clad being stood 
While thus addressed : 



10 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

" Prime minister of Woe ! to thee 
Shall unborn millions yet their homage pay. 
'Tis thine to populate these halls of gloom 
With souls created in a godlike mold ; 
'Tis thine to throng this flaming tide with 

barks 
Dismantled in the storm that yet shall sweep 
O'er Time's dark sea with wreck and ruin 

strewn. 
Go forth, great conqueror, nor hither come, 
'Till wrapped in fire the sky shall, like a 

scroll, 
Be lit with flame : then come the victor- 
chief 
Of slaughtered souls." 

Then backward swung 
The gates of Hades, and in multitude 
The evil angels who should, hand in hand, 
Seduce from paths of virtue free-born souls, 
Went forth to earth on errands dread with 

fate. 
Through weary days on light'ning wing they 

sped 
To that fair world whose peopled marts 

and streams 
Of moving life afar were seen by all. 
When on the silvery confines of that orb 
I saw them doff their panoply of Death 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 11 

And robe their hideous forms in lustrouswhite. 
Invisibly they joined the ranks of men. 
And while I mused in wond'ring thought 

absorbed 
A song seraphic burst upon mine ear 
In melody akin to angel choirs. 
To thee who readest I shall sing the lines 
From Heaven addressed; but as the diamond 

dew, 
Fair gem of morn, dissolves 'neath human 

touch, 
So songs seraphic lose celestial charms 
When sung by mortal lips : 

" The demon band whose flight 
From worlds of deepest night 
To this of joy and light 

Thine eye could see, 
On mission dark have come 
To spread the pall of gloom 
Above man's earthly home 

Their work shall be. 

The garments thrown aside 
In sin's dark font were dyed ; 
Such robes could never hide 

A child of wrath. 
But draped in loveliest hue 
Entrancing human view, 
Souls bought with blood they'll woo 

From virtue's path. 



12 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

But, 'mid the legion throng 
That shall with syren song 
Lure souls in virtue strong 

To Ruin's tide, 
One, crowned with fairy light, 
Shall bear in mortal sight 
A cup whose contents bright 

Foul poisons hide. 

That cup shall overflow 
With bitterness and woe ; 
Who drink shall only know 

Life's starless night. 
Beneath its magic power, 
As falls the blighted flower, 
Shall fall great minds that tower 

In alpine height. 

The scepter shall depart 

From him whose ravished heart 

Shall clasp this cup and part 

With holy peace. 
Great kings its golden brim 
Shall press, till faint and dim 
Their glory dies : life's hymn 

Forever cease. 

Its gleaming front shall blaze 

'Neath marble domes that raise 

Their tops toward heaven, whose praise 

All lands proclaim. 
Where costly fountains play 
And toss their showers of spray 
On queenly forms — there, gay 

The cup shall flame. 



THE THBEE INEBRIATES. 13 

Where gorgeous pictures glow, 
And wealth its dazzling show 
Of grandeur makes, shall flow 

Its crimsoned light. 
Where forms of heavenly grace 
With radiant eye and face 
Shall join in life's young race 

It dances bright. 

Where list'ning crowds admire 
True intellectual fire 
Which kindled rises higher 

'Till juries quake ; 
Where youthful talents shine, 
And states to praise incline, 
Lo, there the flashing wine 

Its conquests make. 

Where stands the reverend one 
Ordained of God's own Son 
To warn the lost to shun 

The broader road. 
Where he, with burning zeal, 
Doth for his God appeal, 
E'en there this fiend his seal 

Shall fix in blood. 

Where want, disease, and pain, 
With poverty have reign, 
The cup its ruby stain 

Will hold to view : 
And savage, saint, and sage, 
Youth, manhood, hoary age, 
And all on life's vast stage 

Its power shall rue. 



14 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

O, man ! go forth — attend, 
The footsteps of this fiend ; 
Thy tempted race befriend, 

And warnings write. 
With garments none can see 
Thy form shall vested be, 
Farewell — peace be with thee ! 

Adieu ! good-night." 

The voice which sweetly sang was hardly 

hushed 
When on the air, upborne by power unseen, 
I rode. The moon with footsteps soft went 

up 
The spangled firmament — now hid behind 
A cloud of fleecy form — and now aglow 
With full-orbed face. And burning stars 

of gold 
Were thickly strewn upon the vault of night. 
Unseen I watched the fiend who bore the 

cup 
To do its work of ruin 'mong the young 
And old, the rich and poor, the bond and 

free, 
Till on the demon's neck the ponderous foot 
Of Universal Prohibition rests. 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 15 

Canto II. 

Winter lay on the fields. 
The bare old forest trees were bent with 

freight 
Of silvery gems, and snowy storms made 

white 
The virgin breast of earth, and merry bells 
Their music poured as through the chilly air, 
The gay and beautiful, with muffled forms 
And blushing cheeks, on wintry pleasure 

sped. 
I saw a mansion brown, whose costly front 
And royal elegance the praise secured 
_ Of those who named its owner as they passed. 
Within its massive walls, in chamber bright 
Where ease reposed, a jeweled lady sang 
With pensive melody her cradle song. 
Around her neck a chain of purest gold 
Hung carelessly, and in her tresses dark 
With pearls entwined, shone gems of daz- 
zling hue, 
As shine the stars in evening's coronal. 
And oft her brilliant eye fell, with a glance 
Of love maternal and of tender thought, 
On a fair cradled child. His large blue eyes 
In which the throne of innocence seemed 
built, 



16 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

Were sealed in sleep by holy angels, who 
Our children guard. The watcher softly 

rocked 
The little couch and kissed the babe whose 

curls 
Of gold fell o'er a brow in symmetry 
Superbly fair, as though, with sculptor skill, 
An angel had a heavenly being carved 
From earthly clay. He seemed more fair 

because 
In orphanage he slept unconscious of 
His loss. For " orphan " is a chilling word 
That thrills with sympathy the strings which 

long 
Have been hushed on the heart's myste- 
rious lyre. 
A father's form slept in its sea-weed shroud 
A dreamless sleep. The giant mount of ice 
Afar in arctic climes, unepitaphed, 
Was his great grave-stone, for afar from 

home 
And wife and tender child his form went 

down 
To wait the final peal and trumpet clang, 
That on the coral vaults of ocean old 
Shall swell, and bid their slumbering legions 

move 
To the august assize. The mother slept 



THE THBEE INEBRIATES. 17 

Beneath the willow's shade, her grave 

marked by 
A sculptured shaft and floral urn. 

Dark is her dying hour. 
She passes friendless to that spirit land, 
Wherein the meek of earth whose faith is 

pure 
Repose in rest profound. Her parched lips 
None moisten with the cooling draught, nor 

wipe 
The gathering death-beads from her pallid 

brow. 
None catch the radiance of her parting smile 
Or feel the pressure of her chilly hand. 
Alone — alone she dies — pressing her boy 
To Nature's emptied font as life fast ebbs. 
Her waning eye is turned toward him in love, 
E'en as the violet its blighted leaves 
Turn s toward the autumn sun. But, see ! 

her lips 
With paling tint in holy converse move. 
Her eye, lit with Promethean fire, descries 
A convoy bending o'er her humble couch 
To bear her saintly soul back to its God. 
A victor smile is on her angel face, 
And faith, with triumph plumed, is soaring 

high 
2 



18 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

To bathe its wings in rapturous atmosphere, 
While far below extends the vale of doubt. 
Her sinking head is pillowed on His breast 
Who cheers His loved ones on through Jor- 
dan's stream, 
And from her lips touched with celestial fire 
Faint bursts the gladsome song of battle 

gained. 
She gives her child in trusting confidence 
To Him whose gaze is on a sparrow's fall, 
While constellations pivot ®n His will. 
Now o'er her languid eyes the death film 

steals, 
And the great pendulum of throbbing life 
Swings lazily. The netted veins of blue 
Are hastening to restore a sacred trust 
To their strange font. Celestial music floats 
From shores with heavenly beings lined. 

But, list ! 
Approaching footsteps break the spell. A 

knock 
On the rude door is heard. A lady fair, 
With wond'rous grace and modesty adorned, 
Fain bends above the dying heroine. 
Majestic is her brow, while from her eyes 
That sparkle in their sockets dark and deep 
Are flashed the marks of thorough culture 
and 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 19 

Of strong resolve. Returning homeward 

from 
A distant tour, she sought at this drear hut 
An hour's repose. Transparent providence ! 
By Him ordained who feeds the hungry 

worm. 
The dying saint unfolds her life of want, 
Then on the child's lips prints the final kiss, 
The last fond token of maternal love. 
To this sent messenger of God she gives 
Her babe to nurse for Heaven : . . . . 

Mother, come home. 
Consumption's moth has gnawed the web of 

life: 
The spoiler tramples on the shattered vase : 
A life of faith is thy memorial : 
The golden sheaf the reaper gathers home : 
Life's silver chord is loosed : the soul is 

free : 
The golden bowl is broke: the gem re- 
stored : 
The shattered pitcher crumbles at the font : 
The wheel of life stands still and death is here. 
The prattling child has won, like Miriam's 

charge, 
A home of splendor and a heart of love ; 
And on a stranger's ear shall sweetly fall 
His earliest lispings of a mother's name. 



20 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

Canto III. 

How hurriedly the passing years have gone ! 
Like night stars darting down a moonlit sky, 
Or silvery waves at play on summer streams, 
Time sweeps along. Life dreams itself away. 
But yesterday in memory's calendar 
Eugene Van Allen was a man mature. 
Yet two-score years have gone the past to 

join. 
The rose, by Nature painted on his cheek, 
Blushes with deeper shade, as though some 

power 
Were struggling to supplant her mighty 

work. 
His form bespeaks a manly elegance, 
And on his brow the seal of dignity 
Has been impressed. His trembling lip — 

his cheek 
Reflecting back the wine-cup's scarlet ray — 
His vision dimmed, and reeling step — these 

loud 
Proclaim sad intercourse with the drink- 
fiend. 

Amid the luxury 
Of that fair home, where Providence his lot 
In childhood cast, an idol Ralph became. 
To minister to childhood's faintest wish 



THE THREE INEBRIATE 8. 21 

Love strained its powers, and wealth its 

treasure bright 
Into his lap poured out. The mother taught 
Her charge in life's young morn to lisp 

God's name 
In reverential prayer and pious song. 
To nourish this fair bud — to see it bloom — 
To water it with tender, holy love — 
To give it as a fragrant sacrifice 
To Christ — she spent the oil in life's bright 

lamp. 
Ere yet the summer roses gay ly bloomed 
Five seasons, Death, the princely halls be- 

spoiled, 
And from the pedestal of social worth 
The image fell. Her spirit passed from earth 
To Heaven's bright courts as sinks in crim- 
son pomp 
The dying sun. Her partner bowed beneath 
The heavy stroke as the imperial oak 
By tempest pressed ; and when the deathless 

spark 
Rose o'er the ruined clay, as " Phoenix " from 
Its funeral urn, his manly pride gave way, 
And tears fell on the alabaster cheek 
Of her whose love had been Eugene's chief 

pride. 
Repentant prayers ascended from his lips, 



22 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

And sacred vows he made to Christ his 

Judge, 
But ere the wild grass perished 'neath the 

sweep 
Of winter's storms, his covenant he forgot, 
And like dead leaves they withered lay upon 
The soul. 

Vows in the crises of soul- suffering given, 

Fade like a flower. 
When mirth returns from the mind they are 

driven. 
'Mid cares of the world such covenants riven 

Die with the hour. 

Vows 'mid the billows of affliction born 

Too often cloy. 
Remorse is not repentance, and forlorn 
The soul may lie, yet distant be the morn 

Of holy joy. 

Vows made when dying lips our own do 
press 

Are soon forgot. 
Moved by emotion man his God may bless, 
Then sin in life. True sorrow his address 

To Heaven sends not. 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 23 

Vows formed in youth's first hours, when 
sunbeams gild 
The spirit home, 
Send incense pure to Heaven's fair hills, well 

filled 
With sweet perfume. On such a soul may 
build 

A life to come. 

His grief he sought to drown 
In alcohol, and 'neath its gloomy power 
His sorrows hide. His flushed decanters 

flamed 
When at the board with plenty crowned he 

sat 
Beside his charge, passing the years of 

youth. 
He grasped the glass at midnight's quiet 

hour 
And, reeling, kissed his only child, who 

slept 
In calm repose. By the dim light within 
The socket flickering he gazed upon 
The portrait of the dead, whose look serene 
In watchful love seemed fixed on his dull 

eves ; 
Then to the bowl for sad relief he fled 
As the lone leper hastes to desert streams 



24 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

His burning thirst to quench. The fiend 

was there 
Awaiting with infernal smile the hour 
When o'er the ruined soul and mental wreck 
His dismal banner should in triumph wave. 



Canto IV. 

Night and the study lamp ! 
Dark drapery has fallen on the walls 
Of the old college pile. In a small room 
A weary student delves, while Nature claims 
Her needed rest. Gone is the noon of night, 
And on the dial's face the moving hand 
Tells of approaching day; but Ralph 

writes on. 
Four years the thorny path to Learning's font 
His weary feet have trod. The classic page 
And tome of musty lore have cheered his 

hours, 
While sheaves of knowledge have, by toil 

severe, 
Been stored in the vast granary of mind. 
To-morrow, cheered by beauty's smile, the 

palm 
His hand will grasp : the warrior's sword 

will rest 
In sheath ; the weary racer then will reach 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 25 

The dazzling goal, and 'mid the plaudits of 
Savants and fairer forms, the parting gift 
His Alma Mater gives he will receive. 

'Tis noon — high noon. 
Meridian splendor girds the car of fire, 
And panting Nature lifeless seems and faint. 
In halls where splendor once in state re- 
posed, 
A father and his son in manhood's years 
In converse sit. The younger weeping 

pleads 
With his loved sire in plaintive tones : 
" Father ! forsake the cup ; with thee I plead, 
By thee adopted in mine orphanage, 
And by thy tender love prepared for life. 
When last we met thine eye was full of fire 
And flashed with light that told of mental 

power. 
Its flame has paled — to-day it dimly shines 
Gorged at its base w r ith blood. Thy cheek 

was fair, 
And o'er it glowed the scarlet blush of 

health ; 
But now 'tis bloated sadly, and with hue 
Unnatural is spread. Thy massive brow 
Unwrinkled was by Sorrow's pang ; but now 
Its furrows speak captivity to pain. 



26 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

Thy strength is weakness now and bent thy 

form. 
This home how changed since last its hal- 
lowed halls 
I trod in youth ! Gone are its ornaments. 
Its sumptuous elegance has disappeared 
And left these chambers bare, while gifts 

from her 
Who filled a mother's place, have one by one 
Departed, sold by thee when most de- 
bauched. 
Thy memory, adorned with polished gems, 
Ts weaker now than erst — its culture has 
Neglected been. Thy soul by Heaven en- 
dowed 
With talents great has to its trust proved 

false. 
Father ! give up the bowl, as self-respect 
Its last appeal rings out and calls thee back, 
And starward lift thine eye in deathless. 

hope, 
And struggle for the prize as strives the soul 
To bribe the reaper Death. For shorn of 

strength 
Like Samson, thou hast lain on lap impure 
Thy wearied brow and slept. My father, 

wake ! 
Ere yet the fatal chain too strong becomes. 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 27 

As round thy path the deep'ning shadows 

close, 
Bring high resolve with purpose ne'er to 

swerve ; 
And, as the wounded eagless smites the foe 
That robs her eyrie of her unfledged brood,. 
Thine influence lost contest, and with the 

power 
That wrecks thine all contend, till free once 

more. 
By her whose grave is dearer far to thee 
Than all earth's wealth, renounce thy 

wretchedness. 
By thy firm vows dishonored long, retrace 
Thy wayward steps; the madd'ning bowl 

hurl from 
Thy sight afar, and this crush'd heart will then 
For aye be filled with purest joy serene. 
For shore strike out as the wrecked seaman 

leaps 
The crested wave, and ere the rapids bear 
Thy soul, unpardoned, to its dreadful fate, 
Strike boldly for the shore where rest is 

found." 

The father's rugged cheeks were wet again 
With briny tears. Deep sobs burst from 
his lips 



28 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

Which quivered as the heart beneath them 

rocked 
With inward agony. He drew quite near 
His manly charge and spoke : 
"Too late — too late, my son! 'twere easier 

far 
To give fresh life to a consumptive man 
In swift decline, than break this fatal spell. 
The power of will, once held with deathless 

grip, 
Is gone : no cable now secures the soul 
Totruth,and strength to practice high resolve 
Is lost. I helpless lie on the cold wave 
That moves with rapid sweep the plunge to 

make, 
And like a helpless bark on leeward shore 
I drift with broken heart to strike the reef 
Toward which the prow of destiny is turned. 
Resolve no more its conquests grand achieves 
And Purpose crumbles 'mid Conception's 

plans. 
As well might infancy attempt to shake 
From its fair flesh a tiger's dreadful clutch, 
Or threat of man beat back a torrent's tide, 
Or human arm enchain the lurid flash, 
As I to strive with Habit's dreadful power. 
Repeated crimes have now confirmed my 

soul 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 29 

In wrong. 'Twere vain to combat more 

with fate, 
Or press by useless pleas fresh thorns- 

about 
My bleeding heart, for naught avails. 

Alone — 
Bereft of hope, I stand the sport of doom: 
Nor taunt my wretched soul with words of 

cheer. 
As stands the lonely oak, in tempest wild, 
With barren boughs and green leaves faded 

long, 
So now in solitude of mind I live 
And cling to earth by Fate's unkind decree. 
When in Misfortune's grave my form shall 

rest 
By my example swear to shun f ore'er 
The glass that first shall win the appetite. 
My heated lips, my boy, crave stimulant — 
I go for a brief hour." 

An hour passed on. 
Another f oll'wing fled, yet came he not. 
In prayer the son had plead with Him who 

thus 
Ordained an avenue through which frail man 
May hold communion with the throne of 

grace. 
Submissively he asked that his loved sire — 



30 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

An idler long in life's vast market-place — 
Might throw his callous heart at Mercy's 

feet. 
Yet came he not. Then with a step as soft 
As breezes kiss the velvet floor of earth, 
He passed the flight of stairs, and at the door 
Of his sad father's room in silence stood. 
Within all seemed in breathless quietude, 
As hushed as night's last hour. No answer 

came 
To his familiar knock. The burnished knob 
He turned with anxious fear and looked 

within, 
'Then reeled in horror from the sick'ning 

scene. 
Upon his couch the father lay in blood. 
Beside him was a costly miniature 
Of her whose spirit basked in heavenly bliss 
.And fadeless joy, and in his grasp was seen 
The glittering steel whose keen and spark- 
ling edge 
Had drained life's font. His eye was glazed 

and fixed, 
And on his lips a fiendish smile still hung. 
His throat was deeply gashed, and clotted 

gore 
Had gathered o'er the wound. No pulse 

replied 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 31 

To love's kind touch. The soul, self-mur- 
dered, stood 

Before its Judge to meet its fearful doom. 

And near him lay a sheet whose ink, scarce 
dry, 

Explained the act most foul. 



Canto V. 

" We drink Ralph's health." 
Thus spake a man of wealth, position, pride, 
As the gay throng their sparkling glasses 

drained. 
It was a festive night, and Ralph had won 
The day, and crowned with wreaths of honor, 

now 
His mansion doors threw wide to clamorous 

friends. 
The Legislature called with trumpet voice 
His name, and bade him stand their proxy, 

where 
The eminent their blended tribute give 
Of wisdom, and the Ship of State is manned. 
His boon companions now were gathered 

round, 
And pressed his hand with words of hearty 

cheer. 
His table groaned beneath its luxury. 



32 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

But 'mid the bounteous plenty given of 

Heaven, 
Rare wines and brandies flashed — Hell's 

liquid fire, 
To scorch damnation on th' immortal mind, 
And slow consume the happiness of man. 
His conscience battled long with Fashion's 

power, 
But conquered fell. The Bacchanalian feast 
Must gladdened be by varied drinks to cheer 
The revel hour. For Custom clamor made 
And Etiquette its sword unsheathed and 

plunged 
Deep in the soul's sweet consciousness of 

right. 
This polished blade a guard for innocence 
And not for crime was edged. Contested 

long 
The combat was, till Conscience bowed 

herself 
At Fashion's shrine and worshiped gods 

impure. 
The sand- grain shines with diamond light, 

w r hen on 
Its form minute the sunbeam throws its 

smile, 
While the uncrystalline surrounding earth 
Reflects no ray — so Conscience, smiled upon 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 33 

By knowledge of transgression, flames with 

light 
Amid the dull and ray less ruins of 
A soul whose pristine purity has fled. 

" We drink Ralph's health," 
Went round the crowd, whose cheeks the 

bestial blush 
Still bore of wild debauch. For almost lost 
Were they to virtue ; dead to sympathy 
With truth. The fiend's true friends, they 

fought beneath 
His flag, and sought to slay the innocent. 
And Ralph, when honored by their com- 
pliments, 
Quaffed oft the poisonous tide, till now 

forsworn, 
And took along the drunkard's dreary 

path 
The first and dangerous step. Oft warned, 

and well, 
He spurned advice, and counsel sacred 

waived. 
He drained the glass, and as a mother screams 
When high in air a condor bears her child 
To its dread sea-girt crag, so Conscience 

raised 
Her voice in protest loud, as for despair 
3 



34 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

The birthright of the soul was bartered, and 
Its purity fell slain. 

'Tis night's lone hour, and 'mid her path 

of stars 
The climbing moon illumes the fleecy bars 
Of formless cloud: earth's weary millions 

sleep 
While watching angels their bright vigils 

keep. 
In yon dark house, repulsive by design, 
Fair goblets golden and of silver shine; 
And seas of light from costly lamps poured 

down 
Enrich the pictured walls of polished stone. 
Along the gay saloon, with soothing power, 
Harp-notes are floating in melodious shower. 
It is a place enchanting; all is bright, 
And gorgeous visions rise to greet the sight. 
In dazzling splendor shine Art's works most 

rare ; 
With fountain streams that fall in pools 

most fair. 
By master pencils touched are paintings 

hung 
On gilded walls, and odors have been flung 
On the cool breeze by fair and fragrant 

flowers, 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 35 

By girlish fingers plucked from summer 

bowers, 
Exhaled from crystal vases, whose perfume 
Falls like the breath of Spring on virtue's 

tomb. 
Prepared by skillful hands with dainty care 
Are viands rich, well served in costly ware, 
And girls with graceful step adorn the board 
With regal taste, while sparkling wines are 

poured 
In flaming cups, and all that can delight 
The sense, and win the eye, are here to-night. 
This is a gambler's " Hell, " and thronged 

the room 
With men who dream not of the night's 

dread doom. 
The aged sire is here, whose ringlets gray 
Admonish him to close life's misspent day 
With great reform; but now he gayly smiles, 
And life's last years in sinful sport beguiles. 
As midnight's hours approach does he forget 
His bartered home, where once his children 

met 
His bounding step, and where his wife is 

laid 
At rest beneath the cypress' mournful shade? 
And in the chambers of his crime-blacked 

heart 



36 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

Are there no holy memories ? Apart 
Is there no shrinking from the fatal wave 
That onward moves ? — no prayer to God to 

save ? 
Have severed ties no talismanic power ? 
Comes there no fear of wrath's consuming 

shower ? 
Are the sweet names of mother, sister, wife, 
Erased from the bright album leaves of life ? 
And when the old yearn to depart from 

earth, 
Does he not scorn the gambler's board and 

mirth ? 
The merchant here is struggling to redeem 
By faro luck his squandered wealth. A 

gleam 
Of joyish hope his wild eye lights — his blood 
Is hot — he loses! Grief's tumultuous flood 
Breaks o'er his soul. He, frenzied, stakes 

yet more. 
'Tis gone: he soon will fly to foreign shore 
To pine in friendless exile, and shed tears 
Afar from all he loved in earlier years. 
I see the judge, whose shoulders daily wear 
The ermine pure. His reputation fair 
He soils by strengthening vice and breaking 

laws 
O'er which in crowded courts he daily pores. 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 37 

With criminals whom but to-day, for gain, 
He helped to 'scape their crime's recoiling 

pain 
He breaks the pack: by wrong his victim's 

card 
He covers, wins — a judge in crime grown 

hard. 
The statesman learned is here, who, but 

to-day 
The list'ning throng enchained, and bore 

away 
By eloquence impassioned his great peers, 
And won by patriot pleas the people's 

tears. 
He plays — puts down the card and shining 

gold. 
The game is lost: the fiend in crime grown 

old 
With boisterous taunt and laugh, and 'riched 

by fraud, 
His ill-gain gathers up and leaves the board, 
While the crushed victim of his hellish 

art, 
With eye by passion flamed and stricken 

heart, 
In anguish hies him through the midnight 

gloom, 
A beggared gambler, to his lonely home. 



38 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

At yonder table, on which golden heaps 
Are piled, sits Ralph. His eagle gaze he 

keeps 
On the shrewd wretch who seeks by subtle 

trick 
His victim to entrap; but he too quick 
Discerns the bait, and shuns the well-laid 

snare, 
And turns the tables planned with master 

care. 
A moment they the well-played game sus- 
pend 
And drink the ruby punch; again they 

bend 
Above the fatal cards and shining dust, 
In fashion's robbery of God accursed. 
A gambler's Hell and Ralph ! He, too, has 

turned 
To that rash course he swore to shun, while 

spurned 
Enfeebled Conscience lies. The moral sense 
Once keen, is dulled, and no pure penitence 
Pervades his soul. Forgot and falsely kept 
Have been his covenants, and he who wept 
Love's scalding tears o'er one he fain would 

save 
From mental ruin and a drunkard's grave, 
Is treading in the foot-prints of his sire, 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 39 

And drinks, by copious draughts, damna- 
tion's fire. 
The sport of mocking fiends he naked stands, 
Of shame and wisdom destitute. His hands 
Outstretched, invite the tempter to destroy 
His noble nature and his priceless joy. 
" This once — this once," he thought when 

first the bowl 
He touched: the magic liquor sipped, his 

soul 
But craved another glass. " And but once 

more " 
He said, and drank again: the happy shore 
Of innocence his life bark left: the sail 
Was wide unfurled to battle with the gale : 
To quiver 'neath the storm-king's dreadful 

frown : 
To fight the gale on ruin's sea: go down 
Amid the whirlpool's rage where Death 

careers, 
And Mercy's heaven launched life-boat 

never steers. 
The game exciting grows: the long, long 

night 
Has thus been spent, and now with passion's 

light 
His wild eye flames. The city clock strikes 

four, 



40 TEE THREE INEBRIATES. 

And all who trod the gambler's velvet floor 
Have gone. His all is staked upon the 

game : 
He wins. The maddened gambler calls the 

name 
Of God in anger, and debauched, once more 
The cup is drained, and the secreted door 
Behind Ralph springs. To his lone, silent 

room 
His footsteps bend through night's dis- 
persing gloom. 
With kindled appetite, all night the bowl 
Has pressed his lip and charmed his ruined 

soul. 
Its pristine innocence long since has fled, 
And youth's fair vows are numbered with 

the dead. 
His is a drunkard's life, though yet he calls 
His country's ear amid the gorgeous halls 
His presence soils; where patriot spirits 

tower, 
And freedom's arm is clothed with might 

and power. 
A slave may be a moral hero, while 
A senator may be a slave to guile. 



THE THBEE INEBRIATES. 41 

Canto VI. 

'Tis Winter's carnival. 
Cold winds career in fury 'long the streets, 
And in the swaying pines make nightly 

moan. 
From every bough the glistening ice-gems 

hang, 
And the white snow appears a mirror 'neath 
The sun's pale rays. The pauper child in 

rags 
Ascends the marble steps, relates its tale 
Of suffering long endured, and begs a crust. 
The wealth-clad throng are housed from 

frigid air, 
Forgetful of the countless, famished poor 
In bleak winds shivering. 

Around a hearth 
Whose crackling flames laugh at the frosty 

air, 
And kiss away the fringe- work on the pane, 
A boisterous trio midday revels keep. 
The room has hallowed been in memory, 
And from the same a saintly spirit rose 
To wear her crown, while on the painted wall 
Dim stains of blood tell where the suicide 
His spirit tossed, uncalled, in Mercy's face. 
The plate of blue and gold, once sacred ware, 



42 THE THBEE INEBRIATES. 

Is garnished now with viands delicate, 

And cups that pressed pure lips, in death 
long sealed, 

Have smoked to-day and thrown their fra- 
grance rich 

Around. They celebrate with joke and wine 

And Bacchanalian song a festal day. 

The banquet o'er, each brims his glittering 
glass 

And lifts to lips profane a toast's response. 

On yonder damask chair reclines in ease 
A man in prime of life, whose sparkling eyes 
Expressive are of mind capacious, strong, 
And cultured; while his polished port be- 
speaks 
Communion with refinement perished now: 
A brilliant senator, and yet a tomb 
Where virtue, buried, lies. With princely 

power 
He reigned in social life, until his bark 
Dashed on the fatal reef a hopeless wreck. 
More rapidly he raced to ruin's brink 
Than down the plane inclined the swift ball 

leaps. 
A libertine ! his intercourse is shunned. 
Debauched, the beautiful his presence fly. 
In the deep grave of public scorn he lies, 



THE THBEE INEBRIATES. 48 

No resurrection morn to know in time. 
The merry crowd demand of him a song, 
And in his honor each the well-filled glass 
Exhausts. His revel words the drunkard sings 
In cadence tremulous : 

Lift up the red wine — lift it high : 
It blushes bright as a sunset sky. 
Its crimson drops like rubies shine: 
Lift up the cup — lift up the wine. 
Lift ye the red wine high. 

Fill ye the silver bumpers up: 
A priceless boon is a well-filled cup. 
Rally around the mantling bowl : 
Drink to the health of a noble soul. 
Fill ye the bumpers up. 

Sing as ye press its blazing brim: 
Lift up your merry festive hymn. 
Sing to the loved from our circle torn: 
Memory wails the friends now gone. 
Sing as ye press its brim. 

The badge of friendship we will wear, 
And o'er the wine-cup fondly swear 
To kneel at Bacchus' shrine. Then sing 
Our social song, and let it ring 
The pledge of friendship strong. 

He ceased his song. 
A listener to its words erratical 
Is Ralph, a drunkard gray. Such scenes to 
him 



44 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

Familiar are, and on the soul's dark page 
Is writ the history of wasted years. 
The sun of fortune on the life of shade 
Has thrown its gilding rays but transiently. 
The flying years have prostituted been 
To drunkenness and mirth, and gatherings 

where 
The wine-god holds foul court. His vacant 

eye 
Bedimmed and dreamy gives its evidence 
Against his claim to purity. The laws 
Of nature oft transgressed retribute now 
Their penalties, like asps, to sting f ore'er 
His happiness. He lives a monument 
Of warning, epitaphed by countenance 
Most wan ; and Cain-like brands of infamy 
Scorched on his brow, proclaim that Nature 

now 
No longer owns her offspring, labeled o'er 
With stamps of deep disgrace. Licentious 

mirth 
His loosened joints have shook with tremors 

dread, 
And when to his pale lips the cup is raised 
His trembling hand the flashing purple 

wastes. 
As the fair face of woman beautiful 
Its loveliness surrenders when upon 



THE THREE INEBRIATES, 45 

It sits the pestilence, so his has lost 
All trace of manly worth and lofty thought, 
And like to ruins of some structure grand 
Whose glory perished when its pillars fell, 
His mind that once in massive strength had 

towered 
Has parted with its pristine majesty. 
Like pilgrim lone who stands upon the shore 
Of some wide stream, and waits the coming 

bark 
To bear him o'er — Ralph stands with bended 

ear 
And quivering heart, on Death's chill Styx 

and waits 
The dismal boat whose keel the dark waves 

cuts. 
In turn they ask the wretched, haggard man 
An offering of song, or tale, or dream 
To give; whereon he ghastly smiled and said : 

" I dreamed last night. 
Methought the curls of boyhood's sunny 

morn 
Played round my forehead fair. I stood upon 
The stage of action free, — whereon each 

steps 
While float youth's golden hours, with 

chisel sharp 



46 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

To carve high fortune from the rugged block 
Of destiny. I saw the paths of life 
Diverge, — one pressed by those in lovelier 

climes, 
And one o'er which the spirits lost have trod. 
The one was strangely narrow, rough, and 

drear. 
No rainbow arched its way, nor clusters hung 
Along its vales. Around me crowds of men 
Were hastening on, and few turned in to 

tread 
The narrow way. With dusty sandals shod 
Came weary pilgrims oft in white robes clad, 
And 'mid the taunts and jeers of the gay 

throng 
Rich-robed in wealth's habiliments, passed in. 
On arch above its gates was graved in words 
Of time-worn age — ' The only path to 

Heaven.' 

The other way was wide, and on the cheek 
Fell breezes in perfume unearthly steeped. 
The rose its crimson breast exposed to view, 
And the pale lily — type of purity: 
The jessamine climbed high and tossed its 

breath 
Toward heaven. The blue- tinged violet 

thick flung 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 47 

Its scented treasures on .the ambient air, 
And birds, whose plumage was with down 

of gold 
Besprinkled, caroled forth their happy 

songs. 
On harps whose strings were silver fairies 

played, 
And clustering pleasures hung from bowers 

of bliss. 
An arch of pearl the bright gates spanned, 

from which, 
In jeweled letters, flamed the blazing 

words — 
c The path of pleasure ; whoso enters here 
Finds bliss ; this path connects with that 

which leads 
To Heaven, but shuns its thorns. 5 

Methought I sauntered in, 
Aware that danger lurked in this bright 

road. 
The rugged way I knew led on to God, 
Though dark and rough. This flower-strewn 

road methought 
Lured by deceptive lights the soul to death, 
Yet it I freely chose. Choice strangely mad, 
For man endowed with judgment to decide, 
And will to execute her verdicts true. 
I entered with intention to return, 



48 THE THBEE INEBBIATES. 

Resolved to tread but to a dazzling joy 
That, like a golden apple hung afar. 
I fain would pluck this distant joy and then 
No blushing flower should lure me further 

on, 
But I would haste to Virtue's rugged road. 
I wandered on and met, in virgin form, 
One lovelier than the star which shines alone 
On stormy skies — as royal queen of night. 
She held a fragrant cup with crimson filled 
Whose drops, she said, would chase away 

each day 
All sadness from the mind ; misdeeds inter 
Beneath the Lethean wave ; create true joys; 
Promote the health ; disease and pain ward 

off; 
Prolong the life which like a shuttle flies, 
And wreathe with bliss its dark, declining 

years. 
By Heaven inspired, an inward monitor 
Long urged me to reject her wily speech 
Deceptive, and its solemn warning gave 
Most tenderly, in words like these : 

Trust not the fairy one. 
She hides 'neath angel robes a demon form: 
Her burnished cup contains a latent storm : 

Its bursting terror shun. 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 49 

With slaughtered souls she gems 
The sea of fire, on which her victims cry: 
Nor touch her chalice fair — its beauty fly 

As Hell's devouring flames. 

A syren spirit dark, 
In life's rough sea she builds her rocky 

home : 
Her song enchanting wins to its dread doom 

The soul's immortal bark. 

The body, strong and fair, 
Her touch will wreck — its harmony derange, 
Its organs mar — destroy its functions 
strange, 

And naught of beauty spare. 

The mind, God's masterpiece, 
Shall 'neath her breath dissolve — its powers 

decay, 
Its noble thoughts and memories fade away; 

Its godlike efforts cease. 

God's image well impressed, 
It proudly bears in life's tremendous war. 
Her chalice dims the likeness — it will mar 

The picture He has blessed. 

The soul, man's noblest trust, 
'Twill murder; its affections, pure and warm, 
Will fall as withered flowers in Autumn's 
storm : 
Its grandeur lie in dust. 
4 



50 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

And still this fairy grew more beautiful 
As conscience sought to warp my rising love. 
I gazed enamored on her lovely form 
As if naught else of earth a passing glance 
Deserved. The cup she held magnetic grew. 
I drank, and on my taste the nectar draught 
Fell, as fair dew-drops fall at midnight's hour 
Upon the fading rose bowed low with thirst. 
I heedless ran and gathered joys which 

blushed 
As gaudy Spring's fair buds. The chalice 

bright 
In sweetness grew, until all other bliss 
Insipid was. 

Years sped and change came on. 
The tinted fruits whose luscious bosoms once 
Imparted bliss grew tasteless, and their joys 
Impure and dull became. The sun was hid, 
And flowers once fragrant threw a sick'ning 

smell. 
My feet were pierced, and weariness distilled 
Was found within the fairy's chalice red. 
Then yearned I to return, as the lost child 
In wild woods wandering longs for its home. 
"The steps of years retrace and speed 

thee back." 
A voice within exclaimed, while on my ear 
As from afar behind me came, in sad 



THE THBEE INEBRIATES. 51 

And plaintive tones, which distance had 

made faint, 
The tender call, " Come back, O wanderer." 
I paused, reflected, yearned aback to press 
The trodden path, but, spell-bound, onward 

ran 
A distant flower to gain. The joy at first 
Pursued, and set as the returning mark, 
Had hung far back. One more of brilliant 

hue 
I fain would grasp and then return. I gained 
The prize, but found a gilded bauble what 
Reality had seemed. Life was unloved, 
And careless as the candle-fly that sports 
Around the flame, I toyed with wreathing 

fire. 
The child of fate, imperiled was my all, 
Yet could I not the moral power command 
To break the fatal chain around me thrown. 
The stubborn will unbending stood, nor 

bowed 
Obedience, as judgment well convinced 
Its verdict gave ; and as the charger turns 
And courts the flame that leaps in fiery folds 
His manger round, so on I madly dashed 
As hideous visions glared along my way. 
Around me pit-falls yawned, and fearful 

groans 



52 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

Ascended, as their victims struggled hard 
To gain release from dark despair and woe. 
No star of promise lit the gloom around, 
While Hope, with pinion bright their wild 

cry scorned. 
The fairy form, whose beauty once enchained 
My ravished heart, imparted cheer in hours 
Of gloom. Acratus old, encomiast, 
Renowned of wine, sang of the fairer hills 
Far on. Then on my ear the voice once 

heard 
Fell yet again. Faint as the echo of 
The lute's last note, it fell, and sweetly 

called, 
"Come back, O wanderer." Afar behind 
The bud last coveted had hung, while in 
The distance dim I could discern the arch 
Spanned by its gorgeous bow. My cloud- 
wrapped path 
Was darkening rapidly in densest night, 
And on the sun's bright face huge shadows 

piled 
Their inky forms. Enfeebled thunder-peals, 
Portentous, signalized the storm's dread war, 
As 'long the angry sky they muttering 

rolled. 
Around me thickly strewn lay blighted 

flowers 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 53 

That mourned their sweet perfume and 

fragrance lost. 
To Fortuna, my guide, I closer pressed. 
She clung responsive in embrace as strong 
As clings the vine about the sapless oak. 
Again I heard, as faintly as the breath 
Of the wind-harp when kissed by zephyr airs, 
And dying as it fell tone-spent on ear, 
The tender voice. I stopped and quick re- 
solved 
The spell to break, and pass the backward 

arch. 
Then ghastly forms leaped 'round with 

swords two-edged, 
And quick as consciousness a thought con- 
veys, 
Or light is born, or ragged flash dissolves, 
Fortuna dropped her angel drapery, 
And stood, a loathsome form of frightful 

mien 
And hideous shape. And blackness closed 

around, 
While thunders crashed and formless flashes 

fought 
In angry strife. The sun fell from his car 
As stately chieftain slain in battle's hour. 
I w^oke and found that fact was masked in 
dreams." 



54 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

The gray-haired drunkard ceased. 
In visions He who slumbers not had shown 
His record dark, and doom, to snatch the 

brand 
Ere yet it was consumed from flames of vice. 
By metaphor the Holy One on high — 
Great Mediator at the court of heaven — 
Had sought his heart ere yet the plunge it 

made 
In woe profound. O Love, surpassing 

thought ! 
That woos the drunkard to his God, nor 

gives 
Him o'er to that dread doom he strives to 

grasp, 
Until the soul has fled terrestial scenes. 
These midnight visions are the spirit-tones 
Of God, communing with the mind when 

freed 
By fancy bright, from its dull clay, in sleep. 
By these mysterious strokes in Night's dark 

noon, 
He grappled with the debauchee's doomed 

soul 
To win it for the crown the Christos wears. 

By dreams in earth's bright childhood He 
unveiled 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 55 

To Egypt's king the famine dread, and saved 
From Hunger's reign the teeming multitudes, 
And the poor captive-boy of Israel 
The nation's saviour made. In dreams He 

spake 
Alarms to Babylon's proud monarch in 
The hour of banquet revelry, and showed 
His overthrow. Through dreams the infant 

Christ, 
Asleep upon the Virgin's loving breast, 
In flight was borne from the fierce slaughter 

of 
Judea's babes. By dreams full many a star 
Of spirit form, with native light on wane, 
Has, won for the Immanuel's bright crown, 
Blazed forth with holy fire again. When 

sleep 
The body binds — the mind unslumb'ring 

soars 
When Reason dies, and dull Reality 
No pole-star finds. She hears unearthly 

tones: 
Unclouded views of brighter worlds enjoys. 
Who knows that dreams are not God's 

torches given 
To light the wanderer to hills of bliss. 
Each eye the old man held enchained as he, 
The dream significant and big with truth 



56 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

Discoursed. Each face was bent to com- 
prehend 
The vision strange : each mind its comments 

made, 
And Conscience plied her stings on every 

soul. 
And one, like breeze-tossed aspen, shook 

with fear. 
A beardless youth, but yesterday he chose 
The path the dreamer ran ; but yesterday 
He stood where vice and virtue part, and 

with 
The power of choice endowed, he, uncon- 

strain'd, 
Passed with the throng, who shunned the 

narrow way 
To life's fair crown. His was a gifted mind. 
Debauchery had wrecked his father's fame, 
And on this brilliant son, her only child, 
A mother doted in her widowhood. 
His father's place he filled where jurists 

meet, 
And crime is analyzed and law enforced ; 
Where social order is established 'firm, 
And Justice meets the reckless criminal. 
Him we shall follow now, and pause the grief 
To share, a mourning mother cast upon 
The tomb his vices prematurely built. 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 57 

Canto VII. 

The bell-tongue's heavy stroke 
Athwart the tower falls on the ear, and tells 
The hour of night. Along an avenue 
Far-famed for architecture grand, and 

wealth, 
And marble palaces, the happy throng 
Pours on, a living tide. The bright-eyed 

belle, 
Whose inward life is spent in love's fair 

sphere, 
Leans on the arm of him whose image gives 
Her dreams their bliss. Soft music floats 

upon 
The air, from homes where jeweled fingers 

strike 
The tuneful harp. The weary merchant 

smiles 
Unloosed of care, and locked in Friendship's 

arm 
Forgets his ledger and the marts of trade. 
'Tis Recreation's carnival — the hour 
Of mirth and song. The coach, superbly 

rich, 
Glides softly with enchanting freight to 

scenes 
Of splendor gay. The blazing windows flame 



58 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

With lights afar, while dazzling gas-jets 
blend 

In starry lines until their sep'rate forms 

Are lost in paling fire. 

Within a " Restaurant " 

That towers 'mid structures crowned with 
art's best skill, 

Whose crowded bar yields gain bought with 
the blood 

Of innocence, two sotted forms recline, 

Debauched to that excess that blinds the 
mind 

And lays the funeral pall on consciousness. 

The bloated features of the elder one 

Familiar are; the younger we have seen 

But once before; since which the drunkard's 
dream 

Impressive has from memory's tablet gone. 

Companions boon the aqua mortis thus 

They long have quaffed, 'till round th' im- 
mortal soul 

Its heaving billows rise to undermine 

The house of clay, and quench the vital spark. 

The younger seems a youth, though bloated 

sad. 
Possessed of genius rare, he might have 

paved 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 59 

His path with Fortune's smiles. His cultured 

mind 
Could solve enigmas dark, while his rich 

tones, 
Freighted with burning words that came 

uncalled, 
Could sway the multitudes that thronged to 

hear 
His pleas of eloquence ; but bound to Fate 
By Habit's threefold cord, Mazeppa-like 
On Ruin's steed he flies, though every pore 
With soul-blood streams. The stamp im- 
perial 
Of manhood yesterday was sealed upon 
His massive brow. The retribution which 
In mystery is oft by Heaven delayed, 
Shall swiftly come to him. The bolt shall 

strike 
His spirit as a clap from cloudless skies. 
The purposes divine are veiled, but time 
Unfolds them all, and wisdom shines through 

clouds. 
In drunken sleep he sees not that the hand 
Of life's draped dial nears the fatal hour. 
As the pale murderer his heavy chain 
Ere clanks, nor knows the morrow's hidden 

doom, 
So dreams he not in deep debauch that at 



60 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

Life's door the herald stands to summon 

him 
Before his Judge. But ere the son shall fall 
The senator shall cross Death's turbid 

stream. 

The months glide on 
And Ralph, the pain-tossed penitent, per- 
ceives 
No strength restored. But, see ! Behold 

he prays ; 
But not for life prolonged. He pleads with 

Him 
For pardon's smile, who for the vilest bled 
When the sun veiled his face o'er Calvary's 

hill. 
Disease besieges the frail temple 'till 
It falls in dust ; but ere its pillars reel 
Th' atoning blood his gulity spirit bathes, 
And as the structure crumbles, angels waft 
His sprinkled soul from scenes bestained 

with crime 
To climes unknown by sin. And ere the 

green 
Spring leaves bedecked his grave, the hand 

he clasped 
In wedlock, years gone by, his history traced 
In these sad words : 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 61 

" My thoughts go back to a bright summer 

eve. 
The burnished moon climbed slowly up the 

sky 
And threw her radiant glance upon the lake 
Whose sleeping waters mirrored her fair 

disk. 
The landscape clothed in gorgeous velvet 

smiled 
Beneath her brilliant beams, and the lone 

crag 
As sentinel stood forth in grandeur wild. 
The slumbering world dreamed on, while 

lone and sad 
I gazed upon the starry skies hung o'er 
With burning worlds, whose happy legions 

ne'er 
Have fall'n by sin. Alone I pondered on 
The past, which o'er the canvas of the mind 
Careered in panoramic vividness. 
In Memory's halls my girlhood days arose 
Pregnant with gilded dreams of coming bliss. 
I sat with radiant forms in halls of lore, 
And at the font of Learning slaked my thirst. 
My teacher where ? More sad than Winter's 

wail 
The past's faint spirit-tones responded 

c Gone ; 



62 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

Gone where the silent dead in sleep pro- 
found 
Forget life's cares.' Around me clustered 

those 
Whose golden curls were tossed by sum 

mer's breeze, 
And whose fair cheeks the zephyrs loved to 

kiss; 
But they whose words like gentle music 

fell; 
Who wild-flowers culled along the mossy 

brook, 
Have withered as the buds they bounding 

plucked, 
And sleep beneath the dells they gayly 

roamed. 
I saw a youth, with flashing eye and brow 
Of mental strength come proudly on. His 

step 
Was light ; his heart was generous, and kind 
His words. The tide of health careered 

along 
His veins, while in colossal majesty 
His mind arose. Learned and eloquent 
He swayed assemblies large, and jurors 

moved 
By his persuasive power. I gave my heart 
A priceless treasure to his cov'nant trust, 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 63 

And heard my untried guardian record 
His pledge to cherish his young bride — to 

watch 
When fever scorched her cheek, and wipe 

with hand 
Of tenderness the gath'ring death-sweat 

from 
Her brow, should she first pass from earth 

away. 
A year sped sweetly on ; no sorrow cast 
Its heavy shadow on my blissful heart ; 
But fringed with promise slept the future 

years. 
My child I hushed in sleep with happy songs 
And joy of heart to mothers only known. 

'Twas evening's hour of high festivity. 

In mansion grand I moved a guest amid 

A brilliant throng. Wealth, beauty, intel- 
lect, 

Had gathered now to wreathe with laurels 
bright 

A beauteous bride, and bind love's garlands 
on 

Her waxen brow. My husband stood be- 
neath 

The flashing lamps, in converse with the 
fair 



64 THE THBEE INEBRIATES. 

And beautiful. " Come, Ralph, come drink 

to-night 
To her whose presence gives my life its 

bliss," 
Spake he upon whose manly arm reclined 
The lovely one. I saw the pallid hue, 
The fair cheek blanch of him my love 

enshrined, 
For he had sworn to handle not the glass 
Which drives the noble mind to madness 

strange ; 
But, bound by Fashion's chain, oft thrown 

around 
The soul to drag it down to its dread doom, 
He yielded, and I saw him raise the wine 
And drain the glass. The fatal appetite 
Which, tiger-like, inflamed, consumes its 

prey, 
Was kindled then. Months passed with 

mournful tread. 
He came with staggering step and cursed 

the wife 
Whose love shone erst the queen-star on 

Life's sky. 
No more he kissed his boy, nor cheered my 

heart 
With tender tones — a heart in whose dark 

halls 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 65 

His image stood on Love's bright pedestal. 
An angry frown eclipsed his whilom smile, 
And oaths became the dialect of life. 
Rum dragged him on till, with delirium wild, 
He drove me, in an hour of passion's reign, 
From home's bright hearth in want and 

loneliness. 
The wintry winds my tresses backward toss'd 
On temples pale. The drifting snow fell fast, 
And bleakness held enchained the storm's 

dark reins. 
I knelt upon the virgin earth, while thick 
The freezing tear-drops fell, and raised in 

prayer 
My heart to Him whose promise gems His 

word, 
' As is thy day, so shall thy strength be 

found.' 

" Father ! amid the wintry tempest wild, 

In pity look upon my cherished child. 

When o'er my form these drifting snows 
are spread, 

And she who pleads has joined the dream- 
less dead — 

Defend my child. 

" A wanderer amidst a ray less gloom, 
My broken heart pines for its brighter home. 
5 



66 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

My Father, all is lost ; earth's hopes are 

dead; — 
And peace is gone ; — life's happiness has fled, 
I would come home. 

" O, Thou whose power and love no limits 

know, 
Who pitieth fallen man, Thy mercy show ; 
My husband save — lift up his fallen form, 
And though I perish 'mid the furious storm, 
Raise him from woe. 



" I hastened to my cheerless home again, 
Where on his couch he lay in slumber deep. 
A moan of pain fell from his lips, when to 
His side I sprang. He woke and wildly gazed 
About the room, and on the drunkard's wife 
His eye he fixed. I smoothed his burning 

brow, 
Brushed back his uncombed locks of raven 

hue, 
And kissed his bloated cheek. He madly 

gnashed 
His teeth, and launched foul curses at the 

Christ 
Whose mercy long had stayed his vengeful 

ire. 
His lips were white with foam; he raved, 

and talked 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 67 

Of serpents, and would, screaming, fling 

them off 
Because his reason was a wreck. He breathed 
With effort great; and palsied, his clenched 

hand 
Fell on his heaving breast. The shadows of 
Death's vale were closing fast around his 

soul; 
And, with affrighted dread, his spirit moved 
To the lone land of starless, moonless night. 
The paling splendor of his dying eye 
He threw upon the partner of the past's 
Bright joys. The death film now came 

thickly on : 
The pulse responded not to Love's kind 

touch, 
And, heaving a faint sigh, my Ralph was 

gone. 

" The dark years slowly moved o'er Time's 

great stage. 
My idol grew, till on his brow the mark 
Of manhood sat. His father's noble mien 
He proudly bore, while in his eye the same 
Dark splendor shone. Accomplished, 

learned, and true, 
He peerless stood, the prisoner's faithful 

friend. 



68 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

His father's post he filled with honor high, 
And spoke with eloquence, while multitudes 
In tears gave ear. The orphan's cause he 

plead 
With moving words in crowded courts, and 

scathed 
The wrongs that wrung the widow's heart; 

and on 
His banner triumph perched. His name 

was loved, 
And blessed his efforts were to stricken ones. 
In conscious purity he guileless stood, 
A polished shaft of moral excellence. 
But genius crumbles 'neath the power of 

Rum, 
And intellect is palsied by its touch. 
My idol fell. A man of polished mind, 
Who thrilled the people's hearts with pa- 
triot tones, 
As from their stately capitol he spoke, 
Led him with syren words to that mad course 
Himself had chose. I urged him long in tears, 
With words maternal, not to break a heart 
Too often bruis'd. Iwarn'd himb'ythepast; — 
His father's worth and course, and fatal end. 
He gave no heed, but trusted his self -pride, — 
His firmness in established principle, — 
His moral strength, his mastery of will, — 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 69 

His post of honor, and his envious fame. 
Like sandy pillars pressed too heavily 
These, tottering, fell. His mental brilliance 

waned : 
His fame departed and his honor died. 
He reeled oft-times a madman to his home, 
Till on Life's silver cord consumption preyed 
And broke the threads. Disease, the citadel 
Of life long stormed, until Death's banner 

waved 
Above the ruined pile. Repentant tears 
Streamed from his eyes. Faith broke the 

chain of doubt 
And bathed her wings in the atoning blood, 
And in her beak, as deluge dove, bore back 
God's olive-branch to man. An arm divine 
The soul's dark fetters burst, and freedom 

gave: 
Life's lamp burned low, and in the socket 

died. 
The spirit winged its flight to higher spheres, 
And Nature's fabric fell in deep disgrace. 

" Such memories awoke as night's great orb 
Pursued her silent march 'mid pillared fire. 
Unblessed with sweet repose, this mournful 

ode 
I, trembling, penned: 



70 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

" O, Rum ! thou dark monster, how gioomy 
thy reign! 

What tears have been wept o'er thy hec- 
atombs slain! 

What hopes thou hast wrecked — what sad 
trophies Avon ! 

In slaying the father and smiting the son. 

" Thou hast entered the mansion and hung 

it with gloom, 
And dug for bright genius a premature 

tomb ; 
The learned thou hast conquered, the gifted 

o'erthrown, 
The eloquent stricken, claimed all as thine 

own. 

"Homes bright thou hast darkened, and 

'neath thy sad tread 
Our loved ones have fallen, and sleep with 

the dead. 
The husband, the father, the brother, the son, 
Thy cup has destroyed, they have gone 

one by one. 

" The victim of sorrow I wander and weep, 
O'er the graves of my idols, who silently 

sleep 
By the Hudson's fair stream, whose billows 

are tossed 
In the dirge-moan it makes o'er the loved 

and the lost. 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 71 

" O, God of the widow, the orphan's last 

friend, 
Whose conquering kingdom shall never 

know end ! 
Swift speed the glad morn when Rum's 

reign shall be o'er, 
And the bright bow of virtue shall bind 

shore to shore. 

" When the last tear shall fall o'er the spoils 
it has won, [son, 

When the last 'sotted father, the last reeling 

Shall stand 'neath the banner of Temp'rance 
unfurled, 

And the song of the victor shall sw T ell 
through the world. 

" When the dark steed of Ruin now tram- 
pling the slain, 

Shall be thrown on his haunches, to hurt 
not again, 

And the bright, crystal waters our Father 
has given, 

Shall have banished strong drink as men 
pass on to heaven. 

" Then the cup shall be broken, the dragon 

be chained, 
The bowl be abandoned — the heart no more 

pained; 
And man in his pristine nobility stand, 
With foot on the tempter : on life's crown 

his hand." 



72 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

Canto VIII. 

The Muse now sings of night and a death 
scene. 

The years have fled along Time's trackless 
path, 

With course as swift as the bright planets 
move 

On the bespangled arch. With rapid step 

They ran their race, nor stopped to parley 
with 

The crowd that hugged the world's false 
joys, while 'neath 

Their wayward feet Time's quicksands dis- 
appeared. 

In a bleak chamber of a lowly hut, 

Where Poverty unmasks its visage stern, 

Is stretched a man who treads the vale of 

death. 
On the black hearth the dying embers gasp 
For life and warmth. The waning lamp emits 
Sepulchral light, while through the broken 

panes 
The cold winds wildly toss the covering 

spare, 
Drawn round the dying form. The friends 

of vears 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 73 

Long fled have left the drunkard to his fate, 
Forgetful of his lavished wealth and love. 
iSTow on a beggar's couch, in penury, 
Unmourned, he dies. Despair flames from 

his eyes 
Sunken and dull. His garments soiled and 

torn 
Bespeak by texture soft the mournful tale 
Of brighter days. His well-remembered face 
Is sadly changed by time and deep debauch. 
The heir of fortune great, he bartered all 
For wretchedness. He madly left the path 
Of purity, and, ravished by the cup 
Whose blasting touch destroys, he parted 

with 
His early innocence. He who once trod 
Jn halls of stately splendor, walks, accursed 
Of God,by man disowned, to suffering dread. 
His garnished mind, once the bright cyno- 
sure 
Of many hearts, has been besieged and 

stormed 
By slow disease, till ruin on it rests. 
For deep disgrace and Want's foul fellowship 
His social worth was early sold. His pride 
And dignity of mien fell heavily, 
And bore in their sad crash the foliage fair 
Of generous acts and fragrant memories. 



74 TEE THREE INEBRIATES. 

The iron hand of Death is on him now 
With fatal grasp. In vain he strives to bribe 
The monarch-king with promises of pure 
Reform. Death offers now no compromise. 
The bow of mercy on life's sky has died, 
Its colors quenched by man's mad treachery. 
The treasury of pain retributive, 
In nature hid, now throws its fiery stings 
With fury on the hope-forsaken soul. 
Remorse around the brow binds piercing 

thorns, 
And taunts with demon laugh its agony. 
The stern command, "Thine house in order 

set," 
Despised when fortune's sun careered on 

high, 
Falls on the heart confirmed in disregard 
Of proffered bliss. 

Stern, goading Memory ! 
Thou fount of purest joy and deepest pain, 
How strong art thou as life's last sands are 

spent! 
How T dost thou, with thy pinions black, 

thick set 
With recollections of remorseful deeds, 
The past enshade as the affrighted soul 
Seeks to disguise itself in Virtue's robes, 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 75 

Its Judge to meet ! How dost thou rise in 

power, 
When to the changeless world the spirit 

flies! 
Vile acts long since forgot are now recalled 
In bitterness, e'en to the earliest blot 
On life's dark sky. Her telescope of lens 
All-powerful, stern Memory lifts unto 
The eye unsealed, and the great map of life 
Is filled with stains. In review pass life's 

scenes 
From the fair star of childhood innocence 
To life's last crime. Remorse her scorpion 

lash 
To the departing soul applies, till in 
Its culminating woe it throws its gaze 
On the sad tragedy of closing life. 

But list ! He speaks : 

" In this dark hut I die in beggary 
Of foul disease. Would I could once again 
Become a child ; then would I shun the path 
My feet have pressed — the path whose 

ghastly end 
With deep remorse of mind I now descry. 
Would that I had her counsels wise obeyed 
On whose fair breast my head was pillowed 

once; 
Whose life of love, perfumed with holy deeds 
And pious prayers, was spent to win her child 



76 THE THREE INEBRIATES. 

To that fair clime of fadeless happiness, 

Where her pure spirit dwells in deathless joy. 

Her calm, meek face in Memory's mirror 
shines, 

And on my ear I hear the tender tones 

That tell of God's unbounded love, and 
Christ's 

Great sacrifice for man, and Heaven's 
bright stream. 

Would that the days of youth were mine 
again, 

Then would I upward mount on strong Re- 
solve, 

And nestle where the star of Virtue shines. 

The glass, whose bitter dregs of shame and 
want, 

Of penury and pain, I drink in death, 

Then would I scorn to touch — master of will. 

Too late ! Hope's peaceful form is coffined 
now. 

The rapids have me, and with gathering 
speed 

The billows glide to the dread cataract. 

The shining shores of Privilege recede 

And mists rise dense upon my dying sight. 

I leave you, ye who drained my soul of love, 

And planted round my bleeding brow these 
thorns 

For gold ; who for base lucre crucified 

My hopes ; who robbed me of mine inno- 
cence 

And health, with fortune fair and truest 
friends, 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 77 

When I from guile afree had wronged you 

not. 
I leave you now : Dread thunder-bolts of 

flame 
Shall scorch your souls, and burn your an- 
guished gaze, 
When ye shall follow me through Death's 

dread vale. 
The pangs and tears and blasted hopes ye 

caused 
In time, shall in stern retribution come 
On your despairing souls when time is o'er. 
At God's dread bar, before the frowning 

Judge 
We all shall meet, and ruined men shall stand 
And jeer your pain. Your hopeless victims 

shall 
For evermore torment your souls, and plunge 
The dagger keen of fell Remorse into 
Your vitals, torn by the avenging blade. 
Familiar tones shall haunt your frenzied 

mind?, 
And while ye cry, c How long?' Despair 

shall scream, 
'Forever,' as successive bolts are hurled. 
Th' ascending wail of spirits slain by your 
Foul cup shall, loud as Hell's tumultuous roar, 
Forever, unappeased, fall on your ear. 

" Farewell, pure hopes and prospects ever 

fair ! 
Which from your beauteous spheres me 

beckoned on 



78 THE THBEE WEBBIATES. 

To fadeless bliss. This arm with fatal stroke 
Your bright fires quenched. Adieu, bright 

world ! 
Whose walks to me a paradise had been, 
If true to Him who penciled thy fair scenes. 
I long have stained thy sacred soil by crime. 
I leave thee now. Inebriate, I fall 
By the terrific shaft I forged and hurled." 

The night-shades wear away ; 
Yet as the weary hours have hurried him 
From earth, no prayer has he addressed to 

Him 
Whose bending ear Faith's softest whisper 

hears. 
He, stoic like, abandoned now of hope, 
Goes to his fate with iron nerve and soul 
Emotionless. He sinks in Death's cold arms. 
The frigid flood is parting at his feet : 
The shattered hull of Life's immortal bark 
Drinks in the rising waves that press it 

down. 
Death tenants now the fallen house of clay. 
The tyrant prince his bankrupt debtor drags 
To dungeons dark, wherein Corruption 

spreads 
Its banquet foul. The eye is glazed, the heart, 
Like the spent pendulum, has ceased its 

throbs. 



THE THREE INEBRIATES. 79 

Death stands by the pale form — leans o'er 

the brow, 
A spirit-watcher by the marble clay. 

Without a ray of hope to cheer the gloom 
The cherished son of Ralph passed o'er the 

stream. 
Death, nurse of dreamless slumbers, laid 

his brow 
In his cold lap to sleep through Time's 

dark night. 
When for the final strife the elements 
Their giant powers shall blend, Death too 

shall sleep, 
While he, his dull ear pierced by the dread 

trump 
That peals along earth's scattered vaults 

and graves, 
Shall wake again. He shall come forth to 

meet 
The drunkard's doom, the drunkard's 

changeless fate, 
When rising high o'er Nature's dying dirge 
The white-robed choirs shall swell their 

triumph song. 

So perished by the cup these princely ones, 
The grandsire, father, son — all gifted men. 



80 THE THREE INEBRIATES, 

And ever, by the glass, the wise and good 
And great, like Summer leaves, untimely fall. 
And woman, pure with culture, beauty, 

wealth 
Endowed, puts hand upon the crimsoned 

wine 
And lifts, like Socrates, a poisoned brim 
And drinks and falls. For gain what mul- 
titudes 
The chalice fill with death, and happy homes 
Transform into the awful vestibules 
Of hell ! They beggar fathers, and their sons 
They strip of hope and happiness and heaven. 
They crowd the marts with poverty and 

crime ; 
With tears and want, with orphans multi- 
plied ; 
And troubled ones, in number like the stars 
That glitter on the ebon robe of Night. 
Then let us pray and speak and give and 

write 
And work and vote until, from sea to sea, 
The white flag waves, and Prohibition reigns 
Law-girt throughout the sisterhood of 
States. \ 

The End. 



a^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



027 279 756 0! 




